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Bass Strait

American  
[bas] / bæs /

noun

  1. a strait between Australia and Tasmania. 80–150 miles (130–240 km) wide.


Bass Strait British  
/ bæs /

noun

  1. a channel between mainland Australia and Tasmania, linking the Indian Ocean and the Tasman Sea

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

In 1998, when a deep depression exploded over the fleet in the Bass Strait, six men died, five boats sank and 55 sailors were rescued.

From Barron's • Dec. 26, 2025

Tasmania currently lies about 240 kilometres off the southeast Australian coast, separated from the Australian mainland by the Bass Strait.

From Science Daily • Nov. 16, 2024

The race sails from Sydney down the south coast of New South Wales state and across Bass Strait to Hobart, the capital of the island state of Tasmania.

From Washington Times • Dec. 27, 2022

Credit Suisse and Citi value the Australian energy assets - including the Bass Strait, Northwest Shelf LNG and the Scarborough gas field - at $3 billion to $5 billion.

From Reuters • Aug. 13, 2021

When the strait was at last flooded around 10,000 years ago, Tasmanians and mainland Australians became cut off from each other because neither group possessed watercraft capable of negotiating Bass Strait.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond